Nemesis(35)

He grits his teeth together and leans forward on my desk. “Maybe instead of going to court, I’ll tag along on your lunch date.”

“Why would you do that?” I ask, blinking slowly. “You’re being ridiculous.”

He curses under his breath, then snarls, “Fine, do whatever the f*ck you want.”

“Thanks for the permission,” I say cheerily, ignoring his anger. The man who was so emotionless, who swore nothing could touch him, is losing his temper.

Interesting.

He storms off into his office.

Lunchtime comes around, Cohen is in court and Jimmy, Sadie’s little brother, comes to take me out for lunch. Jimmy is like a brother to me, which I really enjoy as an only child. He’s much taller than me, and he’s a personal trainer, so he’s all buff and ripped. He’s also covered in tattoos. Cohen only has one tattoo, between his shoulder blades. It’s for an old friend of his who passed away, his initials in a large, almost gothic font.

“Hey, Cinty,” he greets, a name he’s always called me.

“Hey, Jimmy,” I reply, pulling him in for a big hug. “It’s been too long.”

“I know,” he says. “Let’s go get something to eat and you can tell me everything you’ve been up to.”

“Sounds good,” I agree, grabbing my bag. We link our arms and head into the elevator.

Jimmy may be like a brother, but I didn’t lie to Cohen—he does have a penis.

How he chose to take that is his problem.

*****

When Cohen returns from court, he comes straight to me, a determined look on his face. “Did you have your lunch date?”

“Yep,” I say, popping the P.

“How was it?” he asks, looking contemplative. “Where did you meet the guy? Don’t you think it’s a little too soon for you to be having dates, especially when you can’t even give me a few solid moments of your time to explain what the f*ck went wrong with us?

“Lunch was really great,” I say, smiling warmly, ignoring the rest of his rant. “How was court?”

“Shit.”

Okaaaay then.

We both stay silent, just staring at each other.

“She is my brother’s wife,” he says, giving the simple explanation.

Oh.

His brother’s wife? I didn’t see that coming at all. Cohen’s sister-in-law is a total babe. Still, he brought her in here knowing that I’d assume otherwise, and make sure he didn’t tell me who she was until I played the same game he did. Am I going to let him out of this, or keep playing? I decide fair is fair; he put me out of my misery, so I’ll put him out of his.

“Sadie’s brother,” I return.

He nods and mutters, “Good,” then disappears into his office.

Well, apparently that’s sorted.





Chapter Nineteen


“Who sent you those flowers?” Cohen asks, glaring at the sunflowers like they’re his enemy.

I purse my lips, and am about to tell him they’re from my mother, but I decide to annoy him a little first. Serves him right for forgetting that today is my birthday.

“None of your business.”

“Pretty sure it is.”

“Nope.”

“Jacinta—”

“Cohen.”

I see him look at the card attached to the flowers, and I know he’s dying to read it. His fingers twitch, but he doesn’t move.

“Sunflowers are your favourite.”

Oh, so he remembers that but not my birthday?

“I know,” I say, looking over at them while smiling, then back at him. “They make me happy just looking at them.”

“I can see that,” he murmurs, then adds, “You promised that we’d have lunch today. So don’t try and get out of it now.”

“I won’t.” I roll my eyes.

“Good.”

He leaves and then another bouquet of flowers arrives for me, this time beautiful pink roses from Sadie. I smile widely and add them to my collection. I love flowers, and everyone close to me knows it.

Time rushes by quickly and, before I know it, I’m grabbing my bag and waiting for Cohen to take me out for lunch.

“Hey,” he says, rushing out of his office. “Ready?”

“Yep. Where are we going today?”

“Your usual place,” he explains, surprising me.

The walk there is mostly silent, but I enjoy having Cohen in my presence. Even with all the shit going on, and even with him not even remembering my birthday, there’s no one else I’d rather spend it with. I don’t know if that’s romantic or sad. Probably both.

Cohen opens the door for me and waits for me to enter first. As soon as I walk in, my eyes widen at the sight before me. “Holy f*ck.”

No one is in the restaurant, and the place is covered in flowers.

Sunflowers, to be exact.

On the middle table, there is a wrapped present, red with a black bow, and also two plates and cutlery, obviously where we’re meant to sit and eat. Cohen closes the door and turns the sign to ‘closed.’

“Cohen,” I whisper, shaking my head in amazement. “It’s beautiful. How did you pull this off?”